Summertime
by KingxLeon21
Summary: It's Summer break in Konoha and Plans are being discussed. You'll understand when you read it. Sorry I'm terrible at summaries. I've changed the title once again but this is the last time. promise. formerly what she means to him/what they mean 2 eachother
1. What She Means to Him

What She Means to Him

It was a beautiful summer day in the Hidden Village of the Leaf, Konoha. The Academy had just let out for summer break and there was no one more excited about not having to go to the academy every day than Naruto Uzumaki. As he walked down the busy halls of Konoha Academy for the Secret Arts, or The Ninja Academy as the students would refer to it, he could overhear his friends discussing their various plans for the summer.

"Hey Neji!" shouted Ten-Ten from down the hall.

A surprised and slightly annoyed Neji jumped at his locker and bump his head. "Ahhh." Neji swears under his breath. "Hi Ten-Ten." Neji greets her as she nears him.

"What are you doing this summer?" she asked blissfully unaware of the annoyed look on his face. Why would she pay it any attention? After all, he had always looked that way.

"I don't know what my family has planned. I haven't gone home yet." Was his slightly annoyed reply. And with that he left.

Naruto continued down the hallway. He passes his friends Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru. He stops to talk to them.

"Hey Guys!" He exclaimed with a smile. "What are you guys planning to do all summer?"

"My family is traveling to all of the different villages." Replied Chouji with a smile. "They are going for business reasons. I decided to go so I can taste all of foods from the different villages." Chouji's mouth started to water a little bit just thinking about it.

"That sounds like the dream Chouji." Said Shikamaru in his monotonous voice. "Well I don't know what I'll do this summer." He had turned his attention to Naruto. "I don't really wanna do anything. However, knowing my parents, my mom will probably make me do something, and I probably won't wanna do it. Women are so Troublesome." Shikamaru sticks his hands in his pockets. He closes his eyes and lets out a long sigh. "it's all very troublesome."

The enthusiasm seemed to be sucked from everyone except Naruto and Kiba.

"So Kiba," says Naruto trying to resume the conversation "Watcha got planned."

"Well…" Kiba glances over at Hinata and blushes a little. Naruto doesn't notice because of the red marks on Kiba's face. He turns back toward his group and notices Shikamaru and Chouji grinning at him. He also notices Naruto staring at him with a confused look on his face. Kiba tries to quickly change the topic he sees Sakura coming down the hall. He shoots a sly grin at Naruto "So, how are _you_ gonna spend your summer?"

Naruto thinks a bit and looks around for some reason. He sees Sakura at her locker and all of a sudden the goofy grin leaves his face. He thinks back to that day; the day he failed for the very first time; the day he shed tears for his lost brother. '_I'll bring you back Sasuke, even if I have to break every bone in your body_.' Those words still rang in his mind. He looks at Sakura who had just walked up to the group of boys. "Hi Sakura-chan." His mind then drifts to later that day. The day he put his personal dream aside for someone else's dream; _her_ dream. _'I'll get stronger Sakura-chan. I'll bring Sasuke back' _Those words still rest in his heart as true to him now as they were the day he proclaimed them _'This is the promise of a lifetime. Believe it!!' _He snaps out of his trance and looks around at the concerned faces and then he looks at Kiba again then he turns to Sakura.

"So…" Kiba continues, "what are you gonna do this summer?"

He plasters a smile of determination on his face and utters the words that gave not only himself, but everyone confidence that every thing would return to the way it used to be. He answers, "I never go back on my word. That's my way of the ninja." He accompanies his determined smile with the 'nice guy' pose.

Every one was confused except Sakura and Shikamaru. They just smile.

As the group disperses Naruto and Sakura stay behind. No words are exchanged they just look at each other and neither of them feels the need to say anything. Naruto starts to blush and breaks the silence "So, Sakura-chan, what are you gonna do all summer long?"

"I'm gonna try to train to be a medical-nin. Kakashi says that I could become really good at it." Sakura fights back a few tears

Naruto notices the change in her voice and the look on her face. "What's wrong Sakura-chan?" He asks as a few tears fall from her eyes.

"I'm tired of being useless. I'm tired of watching my friends get hurt because of my uselessness in a battle." She thinks back to the day she saw Naruto in the hospital covered in bandages. Her tears start to flow. "I'm tired of being the reason for so much pain."

She didn't say whose pain but Naruto knew. He grabs her wrist and tries to look into her eyes. She stubbornly turns her head avoiding his penetrating blue eyes that she knew were fixed on her. Naruto hugs her, ignoring the fear of getting punched in the face. To Naruto's surprise, however, no retaliation came.

To Sakura's surprise she had no desire to be released. She had no desire to be any where else. For that moment everything felt that it was the way it was supposed to be. That moment lasted for what seemed like forever. No, this didn't feel like forever, it felt as if time had stopped just to let her revel in this moment.

Much to Naruto's dismay, however, Sakura realized what she was doing and broke away from Naruto's grasp. But their eyes met and Naruto's goal was accomplished.

"Sakura-chan, you were never useless." He tries to reassure his friend. "Whenever a situation got dire all I had to do was think of you. When it looked like I would die I kept on living just to see you smile again." Sakura stops crying and keeps her emerald eyes locked with his. "You were my motivation to keep going, to keep fighting, to keep living." Sakura's eyes widen "You weren't ever useless. To me, you were the most important person on the battlefield." Saying this Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes there was something else that he wanted to say but he could tell by Sakura's eyes that it was best not to say it.

Sakura knew that there was something else that he wanted to say and was glad when he didn't say it. All he said was, "Good luck… Sakura-chan." He turns to leave and Sakura heads to the Hokage to request training in medical ninjutsu.

She thinks of the way she felt before Naruto's encouraging words. A tear falls again and she starts to think of the way she feels now. She no longer felt useless. She felt that she was going to improve her worth instead of gain it. She felt needed and it was a good feeling. She tries to see if Naruto is still around but he is at the end of the hallway. With one final tear she smiles and says.

"Thank you." She reaches the door of the Hokage's office and says once again "Thank you… Naruto."


	2. What He Means to Her

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters

This chapter takes place about a month after the last chapter ended. I didn't want anybody to be lost.

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What He Means To Her

She sat waiting to hear anything; wanting to hear anything. Any news at all would be sufficient. It had already been a week. There was a time that she only wanted good news and any one coming with bad news was sent away or punished… severely. Now, however, all she wanted to hear was anything.

The time seemed to pass very slowly as she waited. However, at the same time, the world seemed to be rushing by her. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered to her now was _him_. She paced around the waiting room biting her nails and looking down at the floor occasionally looking up to the door to the operating room.

_Was this all for me?_ She thought with tears forming in her eyes.

She couldn't understand it. No mater how hard she thought about it, it didn't make any sense. _Why would you go without me?_ She thought back to the events that occurred two weeks prior.

_She was reading through some medical texts after another intense training session with Tsuande. "I'm going to kill him." She said, "He's the one who convinced me to go through with this, and now he's going to die." Then the person in question showed up in the library. "Kakashi-Sensei? What are you doing here?"_

"_I've got some news." He replied in a more somber tone than usual, "It's about Sasuke." Sakura sat up now paying complete attention. "He was spotted heading towards Sunagakure." Kakashi looked at her, "Naruto decided to go after him."_

_Sakura started to pack up her stuff, "Ok, I'll find Naruto and report to the Hokage's office for our orders." Sakura was brimming with hope that this time they would come back with their former teammate. Kakashi held up a hand signifying that he wasn't finished. Sakura's hope was replaced with fear for what she knew was coming next._

"_He has already left to meet Sasuke," Kakashi paused, "and…the Hokage has ordered that you are not to go on this mission or any others while Naruto is gone." Sakura was enraged by this news. How dare she? What right did she have to keep her not only from finding her lost teammate but also joining and assisting her last remaining teammate? She wouldn't have it she would march right in there and demand that she be allowed to catch up with her teammate._

_She storms into her teacher's office. "How dare you not let me go with him?" she was livid, she felt betrayed "what right do you have to keep a team from reuniting?"_

"_Sakura your training isn't complete and at the moment you would still be useless in a battle." Tsunade pulls no punches. "I kept you here because…"_

"_I'm not useless." Tsunade hears this and stops her sentence, "He told me that before the summer. He told me that before I started training to get stronger. If I wasn't useless to him then I'm certainly not useless now." Sakura stared at her teacher in hopes that her words had gotten through to her._

_Tsunade just sighed, "I kept you here at Naruto's request." Sakura's eyes widened "He asked that you be allowed to stay here and continue training. He told me that he didn't want you to get hurt." She looked at Sakura and thought the situation through for a while. She came to a decision. "If he doesn't return tomorrow then he would have been gone for a week. In which case, I will have to send out a search party." She looks at Sakura and smiles. Sakura thanks her teacher and leaves to prepare. _

_The next day Sakura waits at the gate. She reads her text book but is unable to focus. "Just hold on Naruto I'm coming to help, whether you want me to or not." She is eventually met by Kakashi. "Where is everyone else?"_

_Kakashi looks around and says, "This is it." Sakura is dumbfounded, "Tsunade said that she has no extra ninja to send on a search and rescue." With that, they head towards Sunagakure. _

_They ran nonstop for two nights and the next morning while taking a short break they hear and see the birds scatter in the distance. They rush to the sight and Sakura is horrified by the sight. "Naruto!!!" She runs to his side and tries to turn him over. Kakashi scouts ahead to look for the culprit. Sakura surveys Naruto and documents his injuries, a habit she had developed while studying under the Hokage. He had shallow cuts on his legs nothing that needed to be treated right away. He had a few more serious cuts on his arms. Sakura opened Naruto's shirt and was shocked at the wound that he had on his chest._

_He had minor cuts on his torso right above his waist but all she could see was the hole right below his collar bone. She ignored the blood and pressed her ear to his chest to check for a heart beat. "It's faint but it's there. Now it's time to stabilize the patient." She tried to treat him as if he were just another patient but she couldn't. It wasn't just another patient; it was the person whom she cared more than anyone else. However, if she wanted to save him she had to stabilize him. She continued, "He's not breathing, Just hold on Naruto, Please." the charka flows to her hand. She steadily moves her hand over his body. "I'll have to perform a charka transfer." She quickly pours some of her charka into his body. She presses her head to his chest again, "His heart is beating a little stronger now." She looks and sees his chest slowly begin to move up and down. Kakashi returns and sees the wound he is shocked. "Did you find anyone?" Sakura asked_

"_No, but…" Kakashi looks over to Sakura. "…but I know that wound. I'd recognize it anywhere. I've inflicted that wound on many different people." Sakura looked at her former teacher with horror in her eyes._

"_Are you saying that…" Sakura started to ask not wanting to hear the results. _

"_Sasuke did this." Sakura's face was downcast and she quickly had to regain her focus._

"_I've managed to stabilize him but we have to get him back to the village as soon as possible." She turned and looked at her wounded teammate as Kakashi picked him up. He had to carry him like a bride because of the wound in his chest. Sakura could only laugh because she knew that Naruto would hate this if he were to wake up. She and Kakashi took a soldier pill and made it to Konoha in a day and a half and Naruto was immediately taken to the hospital. As she watched her friend get taken to the Emergency room all she could say was, "Naruto, Why would you go without me?" _

Naruto hadn't woken up since he had been brought to the village. To make matters worse, he had to be rushed to emergency surgery. Sakura wanted to be in the room if only just to be in there when she felt that he needed her. She was not allowed in and she was forced to wait being unable to play any part in his fate.

Finally the doors open and Tsunade emerges. "Well?" Sakura asks in hope and frustration.

"We've done all we can." Sakura assumes the worst and tries to keep from falling apart at her teacher's feet. "He is stable now all we can do is wait." There was still hope and if it was all that he needed then she didn't need any more than that either.

"Thank you Tsunade-Sama." She bowed to her teacher, "May I see him?" Her answer didn't matter she was going in whether her teacher allowed her to or not.

"You may, once he has been taken back to the ICU" With her consent Sakura headed towards the ICU. Tsunade returned to the other patients.

Once she found out Naruto was back in his hospital room she immediately went to see him. While she was waiting she had gone home and gotten some clothes so that she could stay over night at the hospital. She walked into his room. She did a makeshift examination on him and found that and of his minor cuts and wounds had healed. She breathed a sigh of relief. The big wound had gotten a little smaller but was still noticeable. She looked over at Naruto. "Why did you go without me?" She asked the comatose ninja.

"You selfish jerk! You could have died!" She was aware that she was screaming but they had the room soundproofed. "What am I supposed to do if I lose you, Huh? Who will be there for me if you're gone? BAKA!" She was venting through her tears. "Who will be there to make me feel like I'm worth something? It was always you. When nobody else was concerned with me you were. When nobody was there to defend me you were. When nobody wanted to be my friend you did. You've been my friend for so long Naruto and whenever I was feeling down about Sasuke you were there to try to cheer me up. Naruto please. You can't die on me! Don't leave me to be alone again!" The tears fell on his bed. "I don't care if he comes back Naruto. I don't need him. I've never needed him and he was never there for me. I need you Naruto. You have to live." Sakura realized what she was saying but she didn't care as far as she was concerned she had reached a point of no return. "Naruto, you have to live…for me." She fell on top of him and wrapped her arms around him, "You have to live for me Naruto, because… I… I…" The body beneath her began to stir.

"Sa… Sakura-Chan?" She heard his voice and looked at him with tears in her eyes.

She saw him open his eyes and held him again. "Naruto. Thank you."

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Thanks for reading. Review please and thank you.

PS. there may be another time skip similar to the one between chap. 1 and 2. We'll see nothing is set in stone.


	3. Revelation Through Pain

Okay lets take care of some business **I do not own Naruto**

Now that that is taken care of I present to you the final chapter of this trilogy. Please Read, Enjoy, and Review Thank you

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Revelation Through Pain

Naruto stares down at the counter trying to make sense of anything that had happened over the last week. This was especially hard for him since he couldn't remember anything after his fight with Sasuke.

_Who brought me to the hospital? I know I was fighting Sasuke and then... I woke up in the hospital. I obviously lost… again but who brought me back. Why was Sakura thanking me? Well at least she doesn't know about the request that she be forced to stay here. If she knew about that she certainly wouldn't be thanking me, more like beating me. I guess I could ask her why she was thanking me, but she might think that I was rude. Where's my food? It's hard to think on an empty stomach._

As if somebody was reading his mind his food came a minute later. "Here's your order Naruto." The old man smiles as he places Naruto's bowl in front of him.

Naruto smiles, "Thank you Icharaku." Naruto finishes his bowl and orders two more bowls. These come faster than the first one did and he quickly eats them and pays the old ramen stand owner. _Ok so where to now? I doubt that granny will give me a mission after I've just been released from the hospital. Sakura's probably still training with her right now. Kakashi's on a mission and Ero-Sennnin is probably doing 'research'. I guess I'll head to the training grounds._ He walks to the training grounds and sees Lee running laps around the village. He waves and thinks about talking to him. He decides against it, however, and continues on to the training grounds.

He arrives at the training grounds and sees Sakura at the training grounds throwing punches at a wooden dummy. "Hey Sakura-Chan," He screams out in joy. He hasn't seen her since he was released from the hospital. His smile quickly fades, however, as he realizes that she didn't respond to him. She didn't even look at him. "Sakura-Chan… what's wrong?" Sakura starts to grit her teeth and punches harder and harder. A thought strikes Naruto and a light goes off in his head. "Sakura-Chan we need to talk," Sakura punches the dummy (the training dummy not Naruto) and the base cracks. "Sakura let me explain." Naruto pleads. She lets out a furious roar as she rears back and deals one final blow to the training dummy shattering its torso and ripping it apart from the base. She storms out without so much as a glance back at Naruto. He starts to follow her but as he looks over at the stump where the dummy once stood, he decides that she needs some time alone.

Another week passes and the routine went about the same every day. He would find Sakura and she would ignore him. _My going off alone couldn't have hurt her this much. Could it?_ He thought as he walked home. He passes Kakashi and decides to ask him for advice. "Hey Kakashi-Sensei."

Kakashi looks up form his book. "Naruto, I was just looking for you." Naruto walks with his teacher. "Sakura has been pretty upset…"

Naruto doesn't let him finish, "I know she won't even talk to me. I mean I know I shouldn't have left without her but I was just trying to protect her."

"Naruto do you know who found you and brought you back to the village?" Naruto gets a confused look on his face. "She did. She would have left immediately if she could have but the Hokage wouldn't let anyone go until you had been missing for a week." Naruto stares at his teacher blankly, "She was really something. You could've and probably would've died had it not been for her." Another light goes off in Naruto's head.

"I've gotta go. Thanks for the talk." And with that, Naruto was off to find Sakura. He decided to wait by her house.

Finally he sees Sakura come up the walkway and calls out to her, "Sakura-Chan please talk to me." She sees him stops and thinks about turning around but realizes that she doesn't have anywhere else to be. "Sakura I'm sorry." He says walking towards her.

She glares at him and he stops in his tracks. "How dare you." She says with her eyes locked onto his. This time there is no enthralled feeling, just anger and pain at what he did to her. "You had no right to go off by yourself! You had no right to tell her that I shouldn't come." Her eyes began to fill up with tears. "You had no right to lie to me in the hallway." She breaks down and starts to fall to the ground. Naruto rushes to catch her fall.

"Sakura-Chan I…" Naruto doesn't get to finish his sentence

"SHUT UP!!!" Sakura punches him in the face and he flies back towards her house. "Whatever you are about to say, I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!!!" Naruto stands up and wipes his mouth and spits out the blood. Sakura falls to her knees again. "What would I have done if I was too late? Who would have been there for me if you left me too? I know you want Sasuke back but at what cost? I know you're just trying to make me happy but how happy do you think I would be if you were dead?" Naruto's eyes widen in shock. "The worst part is that you left just like he did. I had to go through that whole process all over again." Sakura can't find anymore to say she just cries into her hands. Naruto's heart breaks after realizing the pain he had caused his beloved Sakura

Naruto walks back over to her and places his arms around her disregarding the fact that another hit was probably coming. "Sakura-Chan I am sorry. I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't get hurt. Although, it seems that I failed at that." Naruto fights back his own tears. "I never lied to you. I meant every word I said to you in the hallway. You were the reason I kept going and you were the reason that strive to get better. You are my motivation." He thinks back to his conversation with Kakashi, "You are the reason I keep on living. I wouldn't be here today if you hadn't shown up."

Sakura's tears decrease and she looks at Naruto and she catches his eyes and that feeling rushes back just like in the hallway on the last day of school. Time feels as if it has stopped again just for her.

She realized that her feelings had changed when she found out what Sasuke had done to Naruto. No, even before that. She remembered how she had turned around hoping that he would be there. She remembered how she wish Naruto was there if only just to cheer her on during her training with Tsunade. She remembered how hurt she was when she felt that Naruto didn't want her to go on missions with him anymore. She remembered how she felt when Sasuke left. She remembered feeling that she had to get stronger. She remembered how she felt when Naruto hadn't come back after a week. She remembered feeling like she couldn't do anything until she knew he was alright. She remembered feeling like Naruto had something to say on that day in the hallway.

She buries her head into his chest. "I love you Naruto."

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Well there you have it my first story is finally finished and i hope you enjoyed it.

I didn't have Naruto say anything because we know how he feels and this chapter was about how Sakura feels so that's what i decided to focus on. my next story will focus on Naruto's feelings a little more than this one did. If anyone is disappointed with the ending I humbly apologize and if you let me know I can do an alternate ending or just adjust this one.

At any rate I would like to thank all of you who favorited this story and added it to your alerts. While it may not have been many, it was enough encouragement to get me through my first story. I thank you all.


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